Through the "Main Street Initiative," the Ohio Democratic Party is continuing to focus on building a bench of great public servants at the local level -- and that focus paid dividends this week, as Ohio Democrats won races in big cities, growing suburbs and even deep-red counties.

[link removed]

The Main Street program has quadrupled in size from when we launched in 2015. We provided training and support for nearly 500 candidates this year.

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

Ohio Democrats won in Warren, Norwalk, Reynoldsburg, Coshocton, Hilliard, Ironton and communities across the state!

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

As we saw in Kentucky, the suburbs are turning purple and, in some cases, outright blue.

"What was telling to me was what happened in the Cincinnati suburbs," Sen. Sherrod Brown told the Toledo Blade. "I think in the suburbs, educated suburban women are increasingly unhappy with the direction of the country."

The 2019 elections were also a victory for diversity -- Reynoldsburg made history on Tuesday, electing three African-American women to city council and the first-ever Nepali-Bhutanese elected official in the entire country.

[link removed]

In suburban Cuyahoga County, Solon will have its first African-American council member.

[link removed]

Successful LGBTQ+ candidates like Sheena Barnes in Toledo and Taylor Sappington of Nelsonville -- a town that went from Obama to Trump -- mark a change in Ohio politics.

[link removed]

[link removed]

The Ohio Young Dems had a great night, with two-thirds of their endorsed candidates winning their elections.

[link removed]

Our brothers and sisters in labor also made an impact, backing more than 50 union members in local races, including Theresa Gadus, a Toledo Public Schools teacher who appears to have defeated her Republican opponent for city council -- by 20 votes. Nearly two-thirds of the Ohio AFL-CIO's candidates won on Election Night.

[link removed]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

Here are five important stories you may have missed this week...

USA Today: Economy slows in Ohio and other pivotal 2020 swing states
WKRC: Planned Parenthood in the fight of its life as anti-abortion bills mount
NBC News: Referee says he told Rep. Jim Jordan that Ohio State doctor performed sex act in shower
Advance Ohio: Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder consolidates power as opponents depart
Cincinnati Enquirer: Yvette Simpson wanted to be mayor of Cincinnati. Instead she's a national political star.